Three Liquid Lipsticks | The Good, The Bad and The Patchy

My liquid lipstick collection seems to be ever growing, despite the fact that lately I’ve been craving something a bit more moisturising. I see a gorgeous matte lipstick and I end up buying it then never wearing it. I have three from different brands that are all nude-pinks and decided to put them to the test and pit them against each other to see which was the best. First up…

At just $6, in theory this is the cheapest of the lot. However, when you take into account shipping, which can often be at the discretion of whoever is checking your parcel at customs, the price goes way up and you can’t put a real amount on it.

Availability

Currently only available in store in the US, but Colourpop’s website does ship internationally. This does mean you don’t get to test the colours out yourself before purchasing though.

Pigmentation

Highly pigmented, this swatch only took one quick coat. It’s a lovely warm-tone pinkish nude colour, with a little bit of terracotta in the base. There’s some very slight patchiness, so you do need to make sure you get an even coat on application as you can’t really layer this lipstick.

Long Wearing and Comfortable?

This dried in under a minute, and was a struggle to get off. This isn’t massively comfortable on the lips, making me want to wear a lip balm underneath, but that makes it apply patchily. It is quite drying, but not as much as others. After eating it had worn away in the centre of my lips, but a quick top up in the very centre, being careful not to layer, fixed this.

There are NYX counters in most major Boots stores around the country, but if you live in a less populated area you can always get them online.

Pigmentation

This was the worst for pigmentation by far. It applied patchily and dried in stages, with some bits dry in seconds and some still wet ten minutes later despite the very thin layer I applied.

Long Wearing and Comfortable?

This was the most drying of the lipsticks, and I was very aware of it on my lips. After eating much of it had worn away and it had begun to flake all over my lips. Reapplying just made the flaking and patchiness worse.

Available on the Stila website with free shipping within the UK, it’s also available in most M&S beauty halls.

Pigmentation

This was by far the most pigmented and applied very evenly. It took one coat for the seriously matte swatch I took and it dried within two minutes.

Long Wearing and Comfortable?

This was the most moisturising of the three, and wasn’t prone to flaking in the same way as the Colourpop and NYX ones. After eating none had worn away, but after a second meal and some drinks the centre had worn away a bit. Reapplying wasn’t a problem with this lipstick, as it didn’t make it patchy at all. Over time it began to feel drying, but still less so than the others. The only downside is that it’s very heavily scented with vanilla. For the first half an hour or so all I could smell was a very sweet, cloying vanilla, which was very unpleasant. If smells aren’t your thing, and I don’t think they’re anyone’s if I’m honest, this may not be for you. Once the smell faded (eventually) I was left with a great lipstick.